[ExI] Digital Consciousness .

Gordon gts_2000 at yahoo.com
Tue Apr 30 20:32:23 UTC 2013


Brent is one of those people speculating about it. While I haven't had time to study his posts in detail, I find myself in general agreement with the thrust of his argument. He is trying to understand how brain matter becomes mindful. Does glutamate play a role? Maybe, maybe not, but I think these are the right kinds of questions.


________________________________
 From: Gordon <gts_2000 at yahoo.com>
To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> 
Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 2:13 PM
Subject: Re: [ExI] Digital Consciousness .
 


Eugen,

>> I think there is something going on here besides ordinary chemical reactions *as we currently understand them*. 

> Possibly, but do you have any evidence for it?

As
 I've mentioned, I believe thoughts are material things - I am not a dualist of any kind. I also believe the brain is not inherently like a digital computer. I can argue both those points. If one accepts the conclusions of those two arguments, it follows that thoughts are intrinsic to the biology of the brain - that some of the matter in the brain embodies conscious thought. I don't see this mechanism explained in textbooks on biology, chemistry or physics. We can speculate about it, but nobody yet knows how ordinary matter can become mindful. I think the existence of my own conscious thoughts and perceptions do nonetheless prove that it does.

Gordon
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